Initial complaint was temp in both freezer and food section fluctuating, food temp around 50 degrees.

I tried to do diagnostic mode, its a single display control panel with no other buttons other than the +/- temp buttons.

So I get it in diagnostic mode, the display is blinking 0. According to the tech sheet, I then inputted the test I want to select, the display is supposed to start blinking again, and then im supposed to hold down the "HOLD" button for 3 secs??

So on the control panel, there are no other buttons other the +/- temp buttons, on the dispenser panel, there is the water filter reset button, that says hold for 3 secs to reset, so i thought maybe thats the button the tech sheet is referring to, but nothing.

So, I kinda figured the mother board was the culprit, i replaced it, got the call back that food section is around 60 degrees, the freezer is getting to 0 degrees, now they're telling me that the ice dispenser is not dispensing cubes or crushed.

All fans are running, I figured that if the freezer is getting down to 0, that the seal system is prob good, someone told me that the comp might not be starting up all the time, but I dont see any evidence of that.

Diagnostic mode will only work if you have more than the 4 buttons. They make a test harness that will hook up to the refrigerator and you can use the "better model" control to put the fridge in test mode. You just have to purchase the control panel and test harness. It will even work on the refrigerators with the newer knob controls.

Did you check the air diffuser. I have changed many of them that dont open so the freezer is cold and refer is not. It can also be thermistors.

Sounds like you had a bad board as well as a bad ff thermistor. Always a good idea test all thermistors anytime you have a cooling issue with a GE. GE suggests you replace all the old style thermistors with the new style. I must admit, I don't do this everytime but it's definitely a good practice.

You know, i hatet o admit how stupid i am, but it ended up being the damper.....
I didnt take the damper housing off, i just peeked in there and could of sworn it was open. It wasnt....
So, dumbness strikes again, but im glad i figured it out, thanks to all that chimed in, your insight is invaluable!

I'm ok with making mistakes, I just don't want to make too many of them! Lol, but I wanted personally tell you that this site is top notch, its my go to when Im in a jam, your like my appliance hero! You're a funny guy too! Keep up the good work!

We all make those "I can't believe I did that" mistakes. They can be embarrassing but the more embarrassing the mistake, the less likely we will make the same mistake in the future. We actually give this phenomenon a name. We call it "experience."

I replaced the main board, replaced the air damper, checked the thermistors.

The evaporator seemed to be filling up nicely, the freezer section is at 0 degrees, i just dont get it??

i noticed when i open the food door, the damper would close, I'm guessing to keep the cool air in the freezer, and when I pushed the door switch closed, to simulate a closed door, it would open back up. Is that normal??

To me, it seems as if the air damper should be consistently open, until it reaches temperature, so what do I know??

The owner has already bought a new fridge, but just for my own sake, I would like to know what the hell is going on??

I'll never see the fridge again, but I would really like to know what else it could have been?

About two months ago, went out on a GE Bottom Freezer, bad board... put the new board in... and replaced the old style thermistors.... week or so later get a call back... similar description as yours... It was saying the FF side was at the proper temp on the display board... . struggled for an hr or so... turns out, we forgot to follow the directions on the mother board install sheet... anyone guess what they say to do when replacing the board on all Bottom mount and various other model GEs?

About two months ago, went out on a GE Bottom Freezer, bad board... put the new board in... and replaced the old style thermistors.... week or so later get a call back... similar description as yours... It was saying the FF side was at the proper temp on the display board... . struggled for an hr or so... turns out, we forgot to follow the directions on the mother board install sheet... anyone guess what they say to do when replacing the board on all Bottom mount and various other model GEs?

It is so very easy to forget to remove that thermistor on bottom mounts and some encoder models.